Evelyn Wynn Dr. Michael Williams ENGL 864: British Literature 1660-1900 June 23, 2014 Politics and Poetry
Politicos! Politics! Political! This is a term that is loaded because it brings so many denotative and connotative meanings that carry potentially volatile responses. What excites or concerns one may not impact another individual the same way. The term political brings with it —preconceived emotions, ideas, and experiences. Before I read Hemans’ “Gertrude or Fidelity till Death,” I was first captured by the second title – Fidelity till Death. I know that in the banking industry fidelity till death refers to monies that can be easily transferred to one’s beneficiaries. Not sure how that fits in the poem. Nevertheless, I found the poem to be extremely political in that a woman’s husband is unjustly accused of being involved in the assassination of the Emperor Albert I, a Holy Roman Emperor and awaiting his death sentence. Hemans’ portrayal of Gertrude is one of petrified, concerned, distraught, and troubled, yet she paints an image of resilience on Gertrude’s face. Hemans writes: Her hands were clasp’d, her dark eyes rais’d, The breeze threw back her hair; Up to the fearful wheel she gaz’d— All that she lov’d was there. Her face says in layman’s terms, The night was round her clear and cold, The holy heaven above, Its pale stars watching to behold The might of earthly love. Heman paints a woman that will not leave her husband’s side; she is determined to keep him comfort in his last hours. In other words, she is saying, “I am not leaving my man.” She still hopes for a miracle that saves her husband, for it is too early for him to depart from earth. The approaching death manifests itself in “when death is on thy brow” (14) and “we have the blessed heaven in view” (23). Yet the poem is somewhat controversial as it ends because it almost assumes that Gertrude’s husband is going to heaven when he dies. Hemans’ use of religious terms provoke the reader to think that the man may go to heaven with such words as “blessed heavenin view,” “bless’d the God who gave Strength to forsake it not!” Heman’s purpose for this poem is to perhaps portray the wifeor in the case of the wife and her husband as victims of the state.
Dr. Michael Williams
ENGL 864: British Literature 1660-1900
June 23, 2014
Politics and Poetry
Politicos! Politics! Political! This is a term that is loaded because it brings so many denotative and connotative meanings that carry potentially volatile responses. What excites or concerns one may not impact another individual the same way. The term political brings with it —preconceived emotions, ideas, and experiences. Before I read Hemans’ “Gertrude or Fidelity till Death,” I was first captured by the second title – Fidelity till Death. I know that in the banking industry fidelity till death refers to monies that can be easily transferred to one’s beneficiaries. Not sure how that fits in the poem. Nevertheless, I found the poem to be extremely political in that a woman’s husband is unjustly accused of being involved in the assassination of the Emperor Albert I, a Holy Roman Emperor and awaiting his death sentence. Hemans’ portrayal of Gertrude is one of petrified, concerned, distraught, and troubled, yet she paints an image of resilience on Gertrude’s face. Hemans writes:
Her hands were clasp’d, her dark eyes rais’d,
The breeze threw back her hair;
Up to the fearful wheel she gaz’d—
All that she lov’d was there.
Her face says in layman’s terms,
The night was round her clear and cold,
The holy heaven above,
Its pale stars watching to behold
The might of earthly love.
Heman paints a woman that will not leave her husband’s side; she is determined to keep him comfort in his last hours. In other words, she is saying, “I am not leaving my man.” She still hopes for a miracle that saves her husband, for it is too early for him to depart from earth. The approaching death manifests itself in “when death is on thy brow” (14) and “we have the blessed heaven in view” (23). Yet the poem is somewhat controversial as it ends because it almost assumes that Gertrude’s husband is going to heaven when he dies. Hemans’ use of religious terms provoke the reader to think that the man may go to heaven with such words as “blessed heavenin view,” “bless’d the God who gave Strength to forsake it not!” Heman’s purpose for this poem is to perhaps portray the wifeor in the case of the wife and her husband as victims of the state.